Authored by: Andy Martone, Esq.

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) released its “Overtime Rule” to extend overtime protections to an estimated 3.4 million additional salaried workers. While the proposed rule has little relevance for unionized construction craftworkers, it may alter whether other employees of SWACCA member companies are eligible for overtime when they work more than 40 hours in a week.

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) adopted a final rule amending its procedures governing union representation elections that largely reverses amendments the Trump-era Board made in the 2019 Election Rule that has been the subject of ongoing litigation. The newly-approved rule restores union election processes first adopted by the Board in 2014.  The rule is scheduled to publish in tomorrow’s Federal Register and will take effect on, and apply to representation petitions filed on or after, December 26, 2023.

More than 3 million workers would be newly eligible for overtime pay when they work more than 40 hours a week under a new proposal from the U.S. Department of Labor.

The highly anticipated proposed rule, announced Wednesday, Aug. 30, by the Biden administration, would expand time-and-a-half pay protections to more workers by changing the exemptions to overtime eligibility under the Fair Labor Standards Act, a change that it says will boost workers’ economic security. But business groups already are pushing back on whether it will achieve those goals.

On August 8, 2023, the United States Department of Labor finally published its long-awaited Davis Bacon rule. The DOL’s 812 pages of rule justifications and explanations contain many substantial changes which will both expand the scope of work covered by Davis Bacon and which will change the way that the DOL administers the Act.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to implement the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA). Enacted in December 2022, the PWFA requires covered entities to provide reasonable accommodations to a worker’s known limitation related to pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions, unless the accommodation will cause the employer undue hardship. For purposes of the PWFA, “covered entities” include public or private employers with 15 or more employees, unions, employment agencies, and the federal government.

The Department of Labor (DOL) announced upcoming opportunities in 2023 for small business owners and other entities to join the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) for a series of Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act (SBREFA) panels to explain the possible impacts to small business from OSHA’s pending rulemaking on Heat Injury and Illness Prevention in Outdoor and Indoor Work Settings.

The Biden Administration released its Spring 2023 Regulatory Agendas that provide updates on the regulatory priorities of over 60 federal departments, agencies, and commissions. Click below to read about the Administration's regulatory agenda and what the DOL anticipates.

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Construction employment increased in 231, or 65 percent, of 358 metro areas between April 2022 and April 2023, according to an analysis by the Associated General Contractors of America of new government employment data. Association officials said the lack of available workers to hire is keeping many metro areas from adding even more workers.